The fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John holds a remarkable promise straight from the mouth of Jesus. He said we can ask him for anything in his name and he will do it. What is it about the name of Jesus that commands such power?
I can ask for anything in Jesus’s name.
Knowing that you can ask for anything with confidence will affect how you pray and what you pray for. Today we’ll look at the implications this promise might have on your prayer life and on your faith walk as a whole. We’ll discuss:
- The reason for asking in Jesus’s name
- What the Bible teaches about asking and receiving.
- How to apply this promise in our daily lives
Whether you pray over every little thing or you reserve only the big requests for God, this message is for you.
The name “believe and speak” comes from my desire to empower your tongue with truth. Speaking truth from God’s Word has life-giving power. Today I have a wonderful promise to share with you straight from the mouth of Jesus. If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible, these words from John 14:12-14 are in red.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (NIV)
Our declaration is based on John 14:14.
I can ask for anything in Jesus’s name.
Asking and receiving is not the same thing as naming and claiming, and we’ll get into that in a little bit. But for now, I want to focus on what Jesus taught us about asking.
I can ask for anything in Jesus’s name. (repeat)
When I pray, I pretty much always end my prayers with, “In Jesus’ name, amen.” Maybe you do too or maybe you’ve wondered why people do that. What is the reason for asking in Jesus’s name? What is it about the name of Jesus?
The short answer is because
- Jesus taught the disciples to pray in His name.
John chapters 14 thru 16 document the last moments Jesus spent with His disciples before he was arrested and ultimately crucified. The verses I just read from John 14 hold the first time Jesus instructed the disciples to ask for things in His name. He brought it up again in John 15 when He said,
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. (John 15:16 NIV)
I love that! Jesus chose you and appointed you for two reasons: so that
- You might go and bear lasting fruit.
- God will give you what you ask in Jesus’s name.
The instructions to direct our prayers to the Father in Jesus’s name are not only in John 14 and 15, but Jesus brought it up one last time in John 16. While preparing the disciples for His crucifixion, Jesus talked about how a woman in childbirth has pain, but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy. Jesus, knowing they were about to witness His arrest and death sentence said, So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. (John 16:22-23 NIV)
That should sound familiar because it forms the basis for today’s declaration of truth:
I can ask for anything in Jesus’s name.
Jesus would no longer be there with them. He had already promised the Holy Spirit would come to them to basically take His place as their teacher and guide. Now He is stressing the point that once He returns to the Father, they will take their request directly to Father God in the name of Jesus. In the next verse, John 16:24, Jesus goes on to say, Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16:24 NIV)
Three times in the Gospel of John, As I mentioned earlier, asking and receiving is not the same as naming and claiming, which is known as the prosperity gospel. Naming and claiming ignores God’s sovereignty and puts us in the role of God. Jesus chose us and appointed us to bear fruit, remember? And we’re not going to do that apart from bowing to the sovereignty of God. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
Naming and claiming ignores God’s sovereignty. Asking and receiving acknowledges our authority as God’s children who have been redeemed by the saving work of Jesus on the cross. God has given believers in Jesus significant authority, and we exercise that authority when we ask for things in Jesus’s name.
Here’s the point I don’t want you to miss
- Jesus gave us authority to ask and receive.
Not in our own Name and Claim, but in HIS name. The Bible promises that you and
I can ask for anything in Jesus’s name.
Let finish up with an answer to this question:
How do we apply the promise of John 14:14 in our daily lives?
First, I need you to determine whether you are the kind of person who prays about the smallest things or if you take only big requests to God. If you don’t want to bother God with every little thing, then I have some encouragement for you!
- Jesus invites us to ask for anything.
Anything! Jesus invites us to ask for anything! In John 15:16, he says,
“…whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”
Whatever, meaning big things, small things, anything. This doesn’t mean God will give us every single thing we ask for. He is sovereign. He has a right and, thankfully, a reason to tell us no. I talked about some of His reasons for saying no last week in my message regarding Paul’s thorn. God gets to decide whether to give you what you ask for, but you get to ask Him for anything! Think about how your prayer life would change if you talked to God about all your needs and desires, not just the big things, but all the things. Three times in His last hours with His closest friends on earth,
- Jesus taught the disciples to pray in His name.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus made a way for us to boldly approach God, not on our own merits, but in the name of Jesus.
- Jesus gave us authority to ask and receive.
I was listening to Pastor Jack Hibbs online last week, and he said when God looks at us, it’s as if Jesus took a big ole paintbrush dipped in red and completely covered us so that all God sees is the redemptive blood of Jesus. And because all our sins have been covered, because we have been chosen and appointed by God, because we walk in authority as God’s children,
- Jesus invites us to ask for anything.
We can bring all our requests to God… Big needs like a job or a house or a spouse! and little things like traveling mercies every single time we climb into a car. My friend, make the promise of John 14:14 a part of your daily life.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the promise that we have, God, that we can ask for anything in the name of your son Jesus, who made a way for us to boldly approach you with confidence. Not because of anything we’ve done or because of who we are, but because of what he accomplished for us on the cross. Because of who he is: the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Messiah. And so, in his name we come to you and we ask, Lord, first of all that you would help us to remember our standing as your children. God, we don’t bother you when we come and talk to you. It’s a form of worship. We come to you with every need because you ask us to. You tell us to cast all our cares on you. All our anxieties on you. All our fears, all our hopes, all our dreams. Lord, you say that if we keep our eyes on you, you will give us peace. Jesus said that if we ask in his name, we can ask for anything. So, God help us to come to you first. Whether it’s a big need or a small need. God, help us to come to you first. Remind us by your Spirit of the authority that we have as your children, washed, painted red so to speak, so that when you look at us, you see your Son. Perfect, spotless, blameless, holy. With the right to ask you because we’re yours. And so, Father, we also ask that you would help us to accept your answer. Sometimes it’s “no” but that doesn’t mean you don’t love us, and it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask. God, help us to just trust you with what we do ask for and with how you answer. We ask this in the mighty, precious, beloved name of your Son Jesus. Amen.
